Pump



Jan. 26, 1932. E. w. PATTERSON PUMP Filed Jan. 5 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet l n a w m s E N w M I! E 0 II [P wm v M6 1 m, 4 w m f w M m N 9% Fl MA 5 (m Jan. 26, 1932.. w PATTERSON 1,842,628

PUMP

Filed Jan. 5, 192 I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 r f/A 1W Illllll ATTORNEYS 1 E. w. PATTERSON 1,842,628

PUMP

Filed Jan. 5 192 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 In yen for; Edyar M 7 46 5673012 MEETS, TO lh. lB. STILEEt PUMP Application filed January 5, 1928. serial 1%. 79,321.15.

My invention relates to deep well pumping equipment and particularly to such equipment which ruperates by the use of sucker rods.

The apparatus in common use for pumping deep wells and particularly deep oil wells includes a pump tubing which extends into the well from the top thereof to a point near bottom the'barrel of a pump being attached to the lower end of said tubing. A plunger is slidably disposed in said barrel so that when reciprocated, oil is pumped up said tubing in a column overflowing at the upper end or the tubing. The plunger is operated by a string of sucker rods extending up through the pumptubing and suspended at its upper end upon an end or a walking beam at the top of the well. The walking beam roclred by suitable power means so as to reciprocate the string ol sucker rods and the pump plunger.

Tn order tor the pumped oil to be properly directed at the top of the pump tubing, the uppermost of the string of sucker rods, called the polish rod is run through a stuffing boil provided on the tubin The simple, harmonic motion oi the wal ing beam, due to its being rocked by a pitman, is a very desirable feature thereof as it imposes a minimum of strain and consequent fatigue upon the string of sucker rods reciprocated thereby for a given number of reciprocations at a given speed. However, the stroke attainable with a walking beam is limited for practical reasons to about three and one-half feet. This limited stroke limits the producing capacity ot the well and tempts operators to run the apparatus at a high speed which causes rapid fatigue and breakage in the rods. It is usually expected that a string of rods operated by a walking beam will break at least once a month.

is therefore an object or my invention to provide a pumping apparatus operating through a suclrer rod in which the fatigue on the sucker rod is reduced and the production of o increased.

Tt is another object of my invention to pro -ping apparatus operating through ed and in which the walking beam 1 and by which relatively long stroke of the pump can be efi'ected with a motion similar in character or etlect tothe harmonic motion of the walking beam.

lit is a further object of my invention to provide a pumping apparatus operatin through sucker rods, as above noted whici produces said increased quantity of oil with a considerably smaller consumption of power per unit produced than is consumed by the Walking beam apparatus.

A still further object is to provide such an apparatus in which simple means are pro vided for varying the length of the strolre.

Further objects and advantages will be made apparent in the following description, having reference to the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the power plant and pumping means;

Figure 2A is a side elevation ot a portion thereof from the opposite side;

a Figure 2 is a view partially in side elevation and partially in section showing the pumping jacks in collapsed or lowered position' Figure 3 is a sectional detail of the piston mounting;

Figure 4: is a longitudinal section of the power plant or pressure'producing means taken on the line H of Fig. 5;

Figure 5 is a plan view of said plant; and

Figure 6 is a sectional detail of a pump to supply liquid to compensate for leakage throughout the system.

Corresponding parts in all the figures are designated by the same reference characters.

The drawings. disclose the power plant A and the hydraulic pump B which includes the hydraulic jacks J. The power plant A is shown as being carried on the frame 10 and comprising driving gears 12 actuated through chains 14 from sprockets carried on a shaft 15 and driven in turn through the medium of gear 16 and chain 1?! which is driven from sprocket 18 on the band wheel shaft 19. The driving gears lit actuate the pitman rods 20 which may be connected with said gears at either ot' the points 21 and 2% according to whether a longer or shorter strolre is desired. The opposite ends out the pitman rods 20 are connected with cross head tilt) 24 which operates in the guides 25 and drives piston rod 26 and piston 27 within the cylinder 28, the latter constituting a fluid pressure pump for actuation of the hydraulic pump B. At one end of the cylinder 28, a port '30 is provided which communicates with a liquid pressure line 32 leading to the jacks J, while at the opposite end of the cylinder a port 34 communicates with a liquid pressure line 35 leading to the bottom of a storage tank or reservoir R in which a body of the liquid whose level is indicated at L is stored against auxiliary air pressure which is maintained substantially constant as by means of an air compressor C. Valves 36 may be provided in a by-pass for connecting the two lines 32 and 35 as for idling or the like, these valves however being normally maintained in closed position, and pressure gauges 38 also are provided in said lines.

For the purpose of supplying small amounts of water or other liquid to the lines 32 and 35 in order to compensate for leakage or other loss and to maintain the required liquid volume, a small piston pump P (Fig. 6) is employed which receives liquid under light pressure from a pipe 37 past a check valve 40 and forces the same through conduit 41 past check valve 42 into line 43 whence it may pass by Way of a valve 44 and a conduit 45 into. the line 35, or by way of a valve 46 and conduit 47 into the line 32. The pump P comprises a piston 50 carried in a c linder 52 mounted in the forward end of t e guides 25, the piston being actuated through piston rod 53 by contact with the cross head 24 at the end of each inward stroke of the cross head. By closing a stop cock 54 in pipe 37 the pump P may be put out of operation as desired, in which case the cylinder will not be filled with liquid and the piston 53 will not be returned thereby for actuation by contact with the cross head.

The pressure line 32 branches and leads to bends 60 and unions 61 at the bottom of each of the hydraulic jacks 1, each of which comprises a casing 62 in which externally packed pistons 63 in the form of cylinders are mounted for vertical reciprocation. These pistons may be headed at the top as indicated at 64 on the left piston, or at the bottom as indicated at 65 on the right piston.

The extensions 63 of the cylindrical pistons 63 are connected in any desired manner, such as by an adjustable mounting 66, with a cross beam 67 secured to the upper end of a sucker rod 68 which passes downward through a packing gland 69 into a pump cylinder 70 containing a pumping element 71 on the lower end of said rod 68. Pump cylinder 70 is mounted in a head 72 on the upper end of well casing 73, and is provided with an outlet 74 for the oil or other liquid being pumped, while the casing 73 has gas outlets 75. The casings 62 of the jacks are shown as being mounted in supporting flanges 80 carried upon timbers 81 whereby the jacks are supported, and glands 82 having packing material 84 therein for the pistons 63 are provided upon the flanges 80.

Thus it will be seen that as the pistons 63 reciprocate in the jacks J, vthe sucker rod 68 will be likewise reciprocatedthereby pumping oil up and out through the outlet 74.

In operation, the air pressure establishedin the reservoir R against the liquid level L by compressor C will be such as to closely approximate the load imposed by the pump plus one-half the liquid load. The pump is considered as including the jack pistons 63, cross beam 67, sucker rod 68 and connected parts, while the liquid load is considered as including friction. The reservoir R is required to be sufficiently large so that the pressure therein will be substantially constant and will not be materially varied due to any displacement of fluid by the piston 27.

The more constant the fluid pressure can be 4 maintained in the reservoir R, the smoother will be the operation of the device, and for this purpose operation 'ofcompressor C may if desired be automatically controlled. This pressure operates at all times through the line 35 against the rightside of piston 27 in the power cylinder 28, and as above identified is suflicient to lift the dead weight of the pump on the upstroke together with one-half the liquid load. The other half of the liquid load on the upstroke is lifted by power applied to the piston 27 from the gear wheel 12, this same amount of power being required on the downstroke to oppose the excess air pressure which was employed in lifting the other half of the liquid whereby the parts will be allowed to descend.

For example, suppose the load of the pump parts to be 200 pounds, and the liquid load (with friction and inertia) to be lifted to be 200 pounds, which will require a pressure of 400 pounds upon the left of the piston 27 for lifting the combined load. Then the pressure will be maintained constantly in the reservoir R at 300 pounds while 100 pounds will be applied to the piston by the gear wheel 12. This 100 pounds will assist the pressure in the reservoir R to lift the total of 400 pounds on the upstroke, and on the down stroke will oppose the excess air pressure of 100 pounds over that required to balance the 200 pound load of the pump parts.

Thus it will be seen that the device is balanced at all times as to power application, the torque and strain being equalized during both cycles of each revolution of the wheel 12. In other words, all the strain of the weight of hydraulic pump is entirely removed from the power or pressure pumping plant during both up and down strokes. This results in an exceedingly economical consumption of power areas so that a stroke ten feet in length can be effected by the apparatus of my invention with very little more effort than is required for a stroke of three and one-half feet by a walking beam apparatus.

Another reason for this is that the same simple harmonic motion of the walking beam is effected over a longer distance, yet in twice the time, so that inertia losses are minimized. The walking beam apparatus, for instance, normally operates at thirtythree and onehalf foot strokes per minute, while my apparatus pumps with 15 ten foot strokes per minute.

The fatigue which eventually breaks sucker rods results mainly from the repeated change in direction from downward movement to upward movement. This change is efi'ected in my apparatus with very little more strain than in the walking beam apparatus, owing to the harmonic motion involved, and exactly cuts in half the number of these reversals while at the same time more than doubles the production of oil. In this manner, increased production is accompanied by a decrease in the sucker rod reversals of 10,000,000 each year. The sucker rods used with my pumping apparatus therefore outlast many times the rods used with walkin beam apparatus.

lt is thus seen that by t e novel combination of elements and. functions present in my apparatus, I have produced a practical pumping outfit which produces revolutionary results in the production of oil from deep wells.

Having thus disclosed my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. in a well pumping apparatus, the combination of: a reciprocating plunger pump disclosed in the well; sucker rods extending upwardly from said ump; an operating jack connected to said suc (er rods; a pressure cylinder having substantially the same cubical content as said operating jack; a pressure piston moving in said pressure cylinder; an incompressible fluid in said cylinder and said jack; means for connecting one end of said pressure cylinder to said operating jack so that there is a free interchange offluid therebetween; walls forming an enclosed space; means for maintaining a substantially uniform gas pressure in said space; piping so disposed as to apply said gas pressure to said pressure piston so as to act thereon in an opposite direction to the pressure of said incompressible fl uid thereon; and means for mechanically moving said pressure piston.

2. lln a well pumping apparatus, the combination ofi a reciprocating plunger pump disposed in the well; sucker rods extending upwardly from said pump an operating jack connected to said sucker rods; a pressurecylinder; a pressure piston moving in said pressure cylinder to displace a cubical space equal to a given portion of the cubical content of said operating ack; means for varying the spacethus displaced by said piston; an incompressible fluid in said cylinder and said jack; means for connecting one end of said pressure cylinder to said operating jack so that there is afree interchange of fluid therebetween; walls forming an enclosed space; means for maintaining a substantially uniform gas pressure in said space; piping so disposed as to apply said gas pressure to said pressure piston so as to act thereon in an opposite direction to the pressure of said incompressible fluid thereon; and means for mechanically moving said pressure piston.

3. In a deep Well pumping apparatus, the combination of: a reciprocating plunger pump disposed in a well; connecting means reaching from said pump to the top of said well for the reciprocation of said plunger;

a hydraulic jack disposed at the top of said well for reciprocating said connecting means;

a hydraulic pump having a cylinder and a,

piston reciprocable therein; means for connecting one end of said cylinder to said jack so that said piston will cause said jack to reciprocate by hydraulic pressure; fluid-pressure means comprising a tank having a gas chamber and containing gas under pressure; and means for connecting said fluid-pressure means to the opposite end of said cylinder so that the gas pressure thereof will be transmitted to said piston.

4. In a deep Well pumping apparatus, the combination of; a reciprocating plunger pump disposed in a Well; connecting means reachingfrom said pump to the top of said well for the reciprocation of said plunger; a hydraulic jack disposed atthe top of said well for reciprocating said connecting means; a hydraulic pump havinga cylinder and a piston reciprocable therein; means for connecting one end ofsaid cylinder to said jack so that said piston will cause said jack to reciprocate by hydraulic pressure; fluidpressure means comprising a tank havinga gas chamber and containing gas under pressure; and means for connecting said fluidpressure means to the opposite end of said cylinder so that the gas pressure thereof will be transmitted to said piston through a liquid disposed in said last mentioned connecting means.

5. In a deep well pumping apparatus, the combination of: a reciprocating plunger pump disposed in a well; connecting means reaching from said pump to the top of said well for the reciprocation ofsaid plunger; a hydraulic jack disposed at the top of said-well for reciprocating said connecting means; a hydraulic pump havinga cylinder and a piston reciprocable therein; means for connecting one end of said cylinder to said jack so that said piston will causesaid jack to reciprocate by hydraulic pressure; fluid-pressure means comprising a tank having a gas chamber and containing gas under pressure;

means for connecting said fluid-pressure means to the opposite end of said cylinder so that the gas pressure thereof will he transmitted to said piston through a liquid disposed in said last mentioned connecting means; and means for injecting liquid into the means for connecting said cylinder to said jack and to said tank to replace leakage therefrom.

. In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

EDGAR \V. PATTERSON. 

